A young man dressed in red stood triumphantly in the middle of an arena. With it's dramatic lighting, sandy floor, and encircling stone stadium, it very much looked the part of an ancient gladiatorial ring.
Tossing off his cap, the young warrior spread his arms towards the worn battlefield, his cap clutched tightly in one hand. The flashing of hundreds of thousands of cameras nearly blinded him and the chorus of cheering nearly busted his eardrums, but he still didn't shrink from the crowd's gaze.
As his faceless opponent slunk away in defeat, the teen in red felt his heart swell with pride. His crimson eyes shone with tears of happiness, and he felt like his chest would burst at any second. He had done it.
'Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Indigo League's New Champion, Red!'
At that moment, he tossed his cap to a random lucky fan- then he threw both fists into the air, basking in the limelight, the rush of victory, the cheers of his adoring fans...
But that all abruptly ended.
'RED! RED! RED! RED! RE-IIINNNNGGG!'
The 18-year old teen was now not clad in crimson, but in light blue boxers with a black undershirt. Nor was he standing in an arena, but spread across his bed, sheets flayed. Crying in surprise as he rolled off the mattress, he knocked his head against his nearby dresser and caused the alarm that woke him up in the first place to fall from it's place and land on his nose.
"Not an ideal start to my adventure..." Red grumbled, rubbing his bopped nose with one hand and the fresh bruise at the back of his head with the other. At least he hadn't broken anything. That would have placed a large damper on the first day of his grand journey. He slapped the top of his alarm and stood with a low grumble, not even bothering to pick it up off the floor.
He instead looked forward towards the wall, where he could see his calendar pinned. He had to laugh a bit at his own eagerness. Everyday in the entire month of February had been crossed out, until it hit the 27th... today, which had a large circle around he had drawn around it.
The Indigo League Championship, a large tournament between the sister nations of Johto and Kanto, had concluded last year, and in exactly another year on the same date, the next championship would take place.
However, the previous champion had retired due to his old age after last year's tournament, so the Championship Belt seemed more enticing than ever to new trainers like himself... so while he wouldn't have to deal with the previous champion, the competition would still be tough.
But he was young, knowledgeable, determined, and ready to take on the whole world.
After a quick shower, Red dressed in his usual attire- plain blue jeans, red and white jacket and hat and the like. He double checked backpack for the supplies he had packed for his journey, and took a final look in his bathroom mirror. Drawing a deep breath, Red puffed out his chest.
"Alright, Red... you can do this...you can become the Indigo League Champion."
Practically sprinting down the stairs, Red had the intent to enjoy his mother's pancakes for the last time in a presumably long while.
That was, until he tripped over his own feet and rolled down the stairs.
"Damnit..." Red groaned into the carpet. This was the eleventh time.
Getting to his feet, Red was met by a homely women with bright green eyes, but the same jet black hair as his own. His mother.
He was instantly met with a crushing hug from the woman, apparently unconcerned with his little fall. Red really couldn't blame her. He was so klutzy that he had considered a vocation as a living punching bag if this whole 'trainer' thing didn't pan out.
"Oh Red! I can't believe you're already ready going out on your journey!"
"I can't either, Mom." Red sighed, patting his mother on the back. She was crushing his ribs, but he tried not to complain about it. He loved his mother very much; the hardest part of the journey would be leaving her behind.
Dragging her son to the kitchen, she sat Red down in a chair and presented him with a plate stacked high with syrup soaked, oran berry pancakes. She did this in almost a single fluid motion at a speed that would make an Arcanine envious.
"Come on, have some breakfast!"
Red smiled, and like his mother suggested, scarfed down her pancakes. Meanwhile, she went on and on about how happy she was for him and how much she'd miss him.
"Oh Red, please visit sometimes when you have the chance, and be sure to call me from the Pokecenters regularly-"
"I will Mom..." Red mumbled through a mouthful of sugary-sweet breakfast. She simply smiled at her son, trying to enjoy his company one last time before he finally went off on his own.
But soon enough, it was time for him to go.
"Later, Mom! I'll keep in touch!" Red called to his mother as he set out of his house, waving back at her.
Tears of joy and pride shined in the mother's eyes as she watched her son set off, "-I'll miss you sweetie! And be sure not to get anyone pregnant!"
Red pretended not to hear that last part. Not that he had any plans on becoming a father, anyway.
"Good to see you, Red."
After dashing through his small town, Red quickly burst into Oak's lab and walked up to the old professor, barely able contain his excitement.
"Good to see ya too, Professor." the 18 year old replied, shaking the old timer's hand.
Oak was an older man with tan, wrinkled skin and steely-gray hair. And you'd have to wake up pretty early in the morning to catch him out of his signature labcoat… after all the years under his tutelage, Red could swear he'd never seen the man without the white garment over his shoulders.
But Red was far too excited to engage in small talk with Oak, much less think about what the old timer was wearing. Instead, he immediately diverted his attention from the Professor over to the 3 shiny Pokeballs on the nearby table.
"Hold on a moment, Red." Oak began, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Hm... let's see here..." Red carefully examined each shining ball. He had gone over the choices in his head for days.
But, over and over again, he went to bed with the decision of Charmander over Bulbasaur or Squirtle.
Why? Red felt like a fiery partner would be a suitable match for his namesake, more than anything else. He also thought having a pseudo dragon-type would be an awesome, not to mention powerful, addition to his team.
"Professor! I want the Charmander!" Red cried, snatching the ball containing the fire-type and lifting it triumphantly into the air.
"Err... Red, you didn't give me the chance to tell you..." muttered Oak, "-I don't have the traditional starters right now.
"W-what?" sputtered Red in confusion. How could Oak not have any of the three starters?
Oak shrugged his shoulders and went on, "All of the Charmanders, Bulbasaurs, and Squirtles I have are too young to fight right now… sorry."
"S-so what's inside of this ball...?" Red asked, lifting the sphere in his palm up to Oak's face.
"It's a Pikachu." Oak explained, "-she's an electric-type, and quite feisty. Also, like you, she hates to lose. I think you'd be a good match for each other."
Red flinched, remember his earlier years at trainer school- and his unflinching stubbornness that got him into trouble more often then victory. But Red supposed a partner with a similarly thick skull would be better than one who would try and bog him down with negativity.
"Alright then... I'll take her."
"Now... Red. I know you've heard this a million times already, but Pokemon aren't tools. They're our friends, and partners. Sometimes, even our lovers. You have to treat her with the respect that all living things deserve."
Barely holding back a sigh and eye-roll, Red nodded. He certainly had heard that same old line hundreds of times- whether it be from his mother, Oak himself, or any veteran trainers in town. But Red considered himself a decent person, and certainly not someone who took his partners for granted.
"Don't worry, Professor, I will." Red nodded. Turning around, the new trainer lobbed the ball against the white-tiled floor, where it popped open and released a blinding flash of light. After the bright burst faded, a young woman stood in it's place.
She was a head shorter than Red, and had bright blonde hair that went just down to her shoulders. She wore a short dress and sneakers the same sunny yellow as her hair, and black stockings clung tightly to her shapely legs. But you could easily tell she was a Pokemon, however. This was partly due to the large red dots on her cheeks, but mostly because of the pointed ears atop of her head and zig-zagged yellow tail.
"Hi!" she greeted, her voice as bright and cheery as her appearance, "-my name is Yellow."
Red was left utterly speechless. He hadn't been expecting his partner to be so… cute.
It was common knowledge that most Pokemon were extremely casual with sex, especially with their trainers or teammates. In fact, there was a troubling amount of trainers that choose their profession solely to get their rocks off.
Red, however, wasn't interested in the sexual deviancy of those trainers… but he was in it for a reason just as sinful- the glory, fortune, and fame.
So he'd decided to keep his relationship with his team both platonic and chaste. He didn't need petty things like romance or sex getting in the way of his title of champion. He'd have plenty of time for wild sex after he'd taken his place as champion.
"Uhm… hey, I'm Red. Nice to meet ya." he greeted, taking a step forward and shaking her hand. While her hands appeared to be far more delicate than his own, Red could feel the power in her grip surpassed his own by a mile. She could easily dislocate his shoulder with a good yank.
"You're my new trainer, huh...?" she mouthed, carefully studying the young man in front of her, "-and what are you after, fella? You wanna be the champ?"
"Y-yes?" Red answered nervously, shrinking under the Pokemon's scrutinous gaze.
"I see..."
"I-is there something on my face?" Red stuttered, nearly flinching as the Pikachu lent forward a bit closer. The way she was studying him from head-to-toe made him uncomfortable to say the least.
"Nah, you'll do. C'mon, let's go get our first gym badge." she replied rather vaguely, giving Red a playful smack on the bum with her tail and waltzing out of the lab.
Oak patted Red's shoulder, "Well, good luck son."
"Well... I've got everything we need for our journey, I've said goodbye to my mom... we should be good to go."
"Nice." Yellow nodded, "So, what's the first stop?"
"Viridian. That's the closest gym, I think, and it's only the next town over. Should be a good 2 hour walk to get there, though."
Yellow yawned and stretched out her arms, "Well, might as well get goin'."
"Without sayin' bye to your oldest pal, Red? I'm hurt."
Red felt a legitimate chill down his spine as he heard that voice. That snark, condescending tone that could only belong to his oldest rival.
Blue 'motherfucking' Oak.